Archive for the ‘The Next Level’ Category

Usually, these podcasts are focused on you. Your goals, dreams, ambitions and skills in magic. This time, we’re encouraging you to look outside yourself and into your community.

Jason Brumbalow, vice president of Ellusionist, has a side gig: Every Friday he goes to a nearby hospital and performs close-up magic for kids of all ages. JBone said that he’s “selfish,” because he gets a lot out of these performances. But so do the kids — for a moment they are taken far away from their hurt, illness or situation, and that can make all the difference in their recoveries.

Jason talked about what it takes to perform at hospitals: What kind of magic to bring, what kind of training you need and how to go about getting one of these gigs. This topic is close to all of our hearts at Ellusionist — from the beginning we have been about moving people with magic, and this is a group of people who appreciate every minute of it.

For many magicians, it’s enough to perform magic with no explanations, patter, banter or other talk. Others, however, want to get some laughs as well as amazement. But putting comedy in a routine is not as simple as it sounds.

Michael Kent is a master at getting laughs. His smartass personality gives his magic an edge that keeps fans engaged, impressed and energized. He is the life of the party during his shows, and that’s no accident. He figures out exactly what kind of reactions he wants, then sets his performance accordingly.

Kent stopped by to elaborate on his creative process, why humorous scripts might not be the best for close-up gigs and one of the best ways to guarantee that you get more calls for business. Enjoy:

It’s been a while — too long — since we posted a Next Level podcast, so we made sure to find a good one this time around.

Lee Asher has been blowing minds all over the world. He recently returned from an incredible lecture tour in Japan, and has created some of the most dizzying, deceptive sleight of hand today. We’ll put it this way: Virtually every magician I have interviewed mentions his Diving Board Double as one of their favorite double lifts.

His skill comes from his research background. Asher has read a tremendous amount of magic literature, learned from it and written many of his own works. He talked to us about that very topic in this edition of The Next Level — he discusses what kind of books he likes to read, how he breaks down a book and why there is no such thing as a bad magic book.

This week, we talk with Sean Fields, a fieldmaster of bizarre magic. Fields is a hands-down expert, having created Sick and Saw, but he has also separated himself with the way he has blended in mentalism with the messy.

In this episode of The Next Level, you’ll find out why he thinks you should watch the movie “The Wizard of Gore,” how to work up to bizarre effects in your routines, the differences between weird, creepy and gory and what experiment Fields decided to run in the midst of the podcast, necessitating a second part in the next few weeks.

When we talk about Justin Miller, we usually geek out over his smooth handling of coins, cards, cordless drills … whatever dude touches, actually. But he’s also a fearless performer who can approach anyone and everyone. And, if you’ve watched any of his street magic, you know that he’s an expert in controlling crowds and managing audiences.

Audience management is a subject we’ve wanted to cover in The Next Level, ever since Miller mentioned the idea to us. With the announcement of the video contest winners right around the corner, we thought this was a perfect time to talk about it. It’s a longer podcast, but well worth the time.

Grab a notebook and prepare to take many notes. Miller is going to cover why audience management is not as simple as saying, “Look at this.” He’ll cover basics of anchoring, talk about how to handle hecklers and more curious spectators (and why they should be treated differently) and what to look for when choosing effects. Enjoy.

And keep an eye out for Miller’s new effort, WTF No Limits, which will be releasing the effects Smile and Cell-block. We’ll post a link once the site is live.

Get the buzz first

As the forums close, I want to say farewell and thank you to all the friends that have helped me progress in my magic over the last 7 years that I've been part of these forums. At the risk of omitting some folks, a heartfelt thank you to Arvind - the first person to welcome […]

I haven't been here in ages. For some reason, I logged in today and see they are shutting the forums down. This place used to be amazing. Everything I know, everything I've ever learned or performed, and everyone I've met in the magic community can be traced right back here. This is where it all […]

Most of y'all won't know me, I was here in the good old days. My journey's taken me a long road, but I'm finally back to magic, popped by to see what was happening. Well, shucks, this old place is shutting down? Darn it. Made a lot of friends here back in the day, have […]

At Ellusionist, we have one goal: to give you the power to perform magic beyond belief. We want to make you the life of any party. We want to make you into a performer. Composed of 12 individuals, we barely sleep, and we will do anything necessary to bring you the best magic, the best talent, the best training and playing cards possible.

We manufacture many of our own magic supplies, tricks, effects, and custom playing cards. We strive to create the very best magical products the world has ever seen. We work with the United States Playing Card co and have produced 14 lines of playing card decks that are repeatedly acclaimed by top industry pros and magic enthusiasts all over the world.